Where Personal and Professional Life Collide...

So this morning, I was confronted with a review of FLESH AND FIRE that read, in part: "It’s really gratifying to watch (Jerzy) change and grow as the novel progresses; he is the same person, yet completely different, when Flesh and Fire ends, and I loved how well-crafted he was....I initially wanted to read Flesh and Fire because it is a fantasy novel centered around wine, and I thought it sounded like fun. What I got was so much more than that, though."

This evening? Another review of that selfsame book that said it was "a tedious, dull and slow read. A really disappointing, underwhelming story, thin characters and no sense of resolution do not a novel make."

Thereby proving that you can noway, nohow, please all the people all the time. Write what makes you happy.

The short but nice lovefest from PW has ended: Although the reviewer says WEIGHT OF STONE "will delight fans of the first book and plenty of action sequences keeps things moving" (yay!) s/he also found the characters "self-deprecating," and "the book itself slow-moving."

Negative reviews are the inevitable counterpoint to the positive ones. The reviewer didn't love the book, but neither did s/he hate the book, or call me a hack. I am Zen.

(Okay, I'm actually pouting like a 5 year old. But that will pass and Zen will come.)

The only comment I will make about the review is that yes, Jerzy is self-deprecating. It's up to the reader to decide if that's appropriate for the character or not. For this reviewer, not.


Now I'm going to blow up modern Manhattan something fierce.


EtA: for the record, Zen arrived about 90 minutes after this post. And without booze or chocolate. I'm actually pretty proud of myself for that. Also? I still like this book a lot. I did a good job. That's essential to Zen.

And so, I did not win a Nebula. And I am okay with that.

No, really. I've had a fabulous weekend -- we got to see the Atlantis shuttle launch (at the VIP stand, yet!) and I got to meet in-person a lot of folk I only knew via the Internet (Eugie, Paolo, Cat, etc) and hang with folk I don't see often enough, and saw Joe Haldeman get his Grand Master award.

All goodness.

(and no, I never did get nervous, even when they paused before reading the nominees.)

And I signed a lot of books and had many people say nice things about Flesh and Fire (to counteract the blogger who came up in my Google trawl this morning who said "Gilman does description well but I don't understand why this book was chosen for "Best Novel" status"), and I haven't gotten sunburnt.

Erm. Considering I'm about to go spend the day Outside, maybe I shouldn't have said that yet?

*goes off to apply another layer of sunscreen*

The six weeks before a book hits the shelves are occasionally nerve-wracking. You're waiting for the first reviews... and dreading them, all the same.

I'm surprisingly (or maybe not-so-surprisingly) nervous about HARD MAGIC bn.com / Indiebound / Borders, as one is when starting a new series, even a spinoff. Bonnie is emphatically NOT Wren; I was trying out a different POV, because this is less caper and more investigative; we're playing with a larger cast, I'm asking the reader to think more in terms of mystery structure than fantasy... a dozen things, small and large, are different.

I had to do those things differently -- the PSI series called for them, and I-as-writer needed them -- but it all adds up to a bad case of new series eeeeps.

And so? Well, now, at the very start of the six-week period, I'm starting to see some very early blogger-reactions. So far it seems split: Some readers couldn't get into it, and some really seem to enjoy it. Nobody's hated it (yet). So take that for what you will...

I was pleased, however, to see this: "although I believe this series links to the Retrievers in some way it made no difference to this story that I haven't read the other books." If you've read the previous books you're going to see a lot of familiar names and scenarios, and should be able to identify exactly when these stories take place against the Retriever books. If not... apparently, it doesn't matter. That means I did my job right there, anyway.

(I wonders, sometimes, if the bloggers who review these books -- and I mean "review', not just 'this is what I'm reading' -- are aware of the fact that the author [or the author's parent or beloved] will read their words? Is it a power kick? A responsibility? A freakout best not thought of? Some combination thereof? Or do they focus on the readers, and not follow the thought back to the creator? Probably All of the Above...)

And now, I have to do what every good working writer must do. Ignore the next six weeks of external distractions, and focus on The Next Book. (Or, um, Next Two. Right. Onward to it).

I am amused to note that a) I seem to have started a #Iwritefantasy hashmark on Twitter and b) everyone's retweeting other people as saying it. Such is the ego-squish dished out by the Internet....

I try to remain upbeat and forward-thinking, because to do otherwise in the Creative Arts (such as they are) is to fall into a Slough of Despond that can hold you the rest of your life/career. But sometimes things happen that make you wonder if maybe the Slough wouldn't be less ow-ful.

( why I laugh [sometimes bitterly] when people tell me I'm doing well )

But all is not nolove. If you're in Southern California and would like a copy of FLESH AND FIRE that's been signed, I'd point you toward Mysterious Galaxy's signing October 17th @ 2pm. The staff is fabulous, the location is great, and There Will Be Cookies [and I bet they'd hold a copy for you until you could pick it up/send it to you, too]. If you're in Northern California, then come to the Clayton Books signing on October 25th @ 3pm (there will be Cookies! And Music!)

EtA: and this is why pre-ordering a book you're interested in can be so important. Even with my publisher's support behind this book, there are stores that aren't ordering even a single copy. It may be YOUR bookstore. Telling them "I like this author, I want the next book" is something a well-run store listens to, and ensures there's at least a copy on the shelf for when you come in. All the authors out there, present and future, thank you for your proactivity. :-)

No, this is a (mostly) serious question. In his most current roundup of books he's gotten for review, http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2008/06/12/books-received-er-recently/ he singles out the two Luna titles (yes, including mine) as "two books I probably won't review." No given reason -- and no indication that he's already read our work and doesn't like it. Just...two Luna titles.

(and it's not because he has anything against fantasy, or even fantasy-with-sex, since he's got Lynn's newest in the main pile o' books and man am I jealous, she says with a pointed look at Lynn and Lynn's agent, who both promised her a copy)

Interesting.

EtA2: And Jeff, being a gentleman, responds. Thanks, Jeff!



EtA: in more important news, my turkey in garlic-tahini sauce with pasta turned out good but not spectacular. My sauce still fails to knock my sandals off. Must investigate further.